Convincing results of the socio-economic development of the Murmansk region led to the fact that the region began to be considered at the federal level, Governor Andrey Chibis said during the online broadcast "Two years in two Hours", dedicated to two years of work as the head of the region.
"More precisely, the President said:" Russia used to grow with Siberia, now with the Arctic." And the economic drive that we managed to achieve was just our main task. The growth of budget revenues allows us to invest more in the social sphere. Thus, economic growth allows us to feel changes directly in our everyday life. And now the most important thing for us is the battle for the future, " the governor said.
According to Andrey Chibis, the regional budget revenues have increased by 38% in two years. This year, the budget retains its social orientation, and 75% of its expenditures are spent on healthcare, education, and social support. Moreover, it was decided to increase the volume of expenditures in key areas of life by almost 11 billion rubles - up to 97.3 billion rubles.
At the same time, the budget of the Murmansk region has successfully passed the test of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, 7.6 billion rubles (including 3 billion from the regional budget) were allocated to fight the pandemic and minimize its consequences.
The governor called investments the main "fuel" for economic growth and, accordingly, the growth of regional treasury revenues. In the first year of preferential treatment for residents of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and the TOP "Capital of the Arctic", the Murmansk region became the "number one" in the North in attracting investment, and, according to the head of the region, intends to maintain leadership: in the promising strategic case of the region for the next decade – more than 50 projects with an investment volume of 560 billion rubles and the creation of 24,000 jobs.
Thanks to the growth of the economy, the region was able not only to change the structure of public debt in favor of cheaper credit resources, but also to reduce it in recent years. Since 2015, the national debt has not fallen below the mark of almost 19 billion rubles, and this, depending on the income, was from 34 to 55% of the debt burden on the budget. Over the past two years, we have managed to reduce the national debt to 13.5 billion, or 19% of the debt burden. The Murmansk Region entered the top ten regions with the lowest level of debt burden, taking the 9th place. The Murmansk Region started the current year with a state debt consisting of budget loans. As part of the debt, there are no commercial loans, which reduces the burden on budget expenditures and allows you to pay more attention to the implementation of requests in the social sphere, explained Andrey Chibis.
/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region /